Meeting with Director-General of the World Trade Organization Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

On March 30, 2021, the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the UN Office in Geneva Zhanar Aitzhanova held a meeting with
Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of the World Trade Organization.

Given Kazakhstan’s chairmanship at the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference, during the meeting, special attention was paid to the joint preparation and key priorities of this global event to achieve significant results on the current agenda of the Organization.

In particular, the Director-General stressed that WTO members need to focus negotiations on a few specific issues, such as ensuring access to vaccines and medical goods for all countries, a successful conclusion of the Fisheries subsidies negotiations, making progress in negotiations on Agriculture, and reinstating a fully-functioning WTO Dispute Resolution Mechanism.

The Director-General assured that the WTO Secretariat, for their part, will provide all the necessary assistance and support in preparation for the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference.

The parties also exchanged views on the development of global trade in the world's current epidemiological situation.